Aviation Executive Search for Airlines & Operators
We support commercial and regional carriers, cargo operators and ACMI providers with executive and technical leadership search. Our focus is on operations, engineering and maintenance leadership roles where safety, uptime and regulatory confidence define success.
High-utilisation fleets under tight regulatory and commercial pressure require leaders who understand both the technical reality and the business imperative.
What's happening in aviation right now
The commercial aviation sector is navigating post-pandemic fleet growth while wrestling with pilot and engineer shortages that show no sign of easing. Airlines are adding aircraft faster than they can recruit and retain the technical leadership to support them. Maintenance organisations are stretched, with line maintenance coverage gaps directly impacting OTP and dispatch reliability.
Regulatory pressure has intensified. EASA and national CAAs are looking harder at operator governance, particularly around Part-145, Part-M and Part-CAMO compliance. The shortage of licensed engineers is not just an operational problem – it's a board-level risk when regulators start asking about succession and sustainability.
Meanwhile, lessors and investors are demanding more transparency on technical governance. A poorly articulated maintenance strategy or unclear airworthiness oversight can affect asset values and refinancing terms. The technical leadership you hire today shapes how the market values your operation tomorrow.
Current pressure points
- Fleet growth outpacing technical leadership pipeline
- Licensed engineer shortage affecting line coverage and turnaround
- Heightened regulatory scrutiny on Part-M and Part-CAMO compliance
- Lessor and investor focus on technical governance and asset risk
- OTP pressure creating tension between commercial and technical functions
- Succession gaps in senior maintenance and engineering roles
The problems we actually solve
Stabilising line maintenance operations
Finding leaders who can improve coverage, reduce AOG events and build teams that don't collapse under pressure. Often the mandate is less about hiring a 'Head of Line Maintenance' and more about fixing a systemic OTP problem.
Building credible CAMO and airworthiness functions
Airworthiness oversight that actually works – not just paper compliance. Leaders who understand the interface between engineering, maintenance and the regulator, and can hold their position when commercial pressure builds.
Technical due diligence for transactions
Supporting boards, PE operating partners and lessors who need to understand whether technical leadership is a strength or a risk. Often this leads to search – but sometimes it leads to retention or restructuring.
Succession and bench-building
Mapping the market for future leaders before the resignation letter arrives. Understanding who is promotable internally versus who needs to be brought in from outside – and when.
Aviation leadership and technical roles
From line and base maintenance leadership through to group-level technical and operations mandates.
Operations & Executive
- Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- Accountable Manager / Nominated Person
- VP Operations
- Head of Flight Operations
- Director of Ground Operations
Engineering & Maintenance
- VP Engineering & Maintenance
- Head of Line Maintenance
- Head of Base Maintenance
- CAMO Manager / Head of Airworthiness
- Fleet Technical Manager
- Chief Inspector
Technical & Support
- Quality Manager
- Safety Manager / Head of SMS
- Maintenance Controller
- Planning Manager
- Reliability Engineer
- Materials & Logistics Lead
Traits, experience patterns and failure modes
What we look for
- Regulatory confidence – can hold their position with a CAA inspector without escalating to the Accountable Manager
- Commercial fluency – understands the P&L implications of maintenance decisions without compromising airworthiness
- Team-building under pressure – can recruit, retain and develop licensed engineers in a shortage market
- Systems thinking – sees the connections between planning, materials, production and reliability
- Stakeholder management – comfortable in front of boards, lessors and investors, not just hangar floors
Common failure modes
- Technical excellence without leadership – brilliant engineers who cannot build or hold a team
- Compliance-only mindset – rigid adherence to process without commercial awareness or flexibility
- Single-operator experience – deep expertise in one fleet type that doesn't translate to different operating models
- Hero culture dependency – leaders who solve problems personally rather than building systems
- Regulatory naivety – commercially strong but unable to manage CAA or EASA interface effectively
Mandate patterns we support
European Airline · Narrow-body fleet
Head of Line Maintenance
Search designed around improving on-time performance, stabilising rostered coverage and tightening safety and compliance reporting across multiple bases. Mandate sponsor: COO with board-level stakeholder accountability.
Cargo Operator · Wide-body conversion fleet
VP Engineering & Maintenance
Leadership role spanning line, base and CAMO functions during fleet expansion. Required deep Part-145 and Part-M experience, lessor interface capability and the credibility to represent technical governance to investors.
ACMI Provider · Multi-type fleet
CAMO Manager
Continuing airworthiness leadership for an operator with multiple AOCs and fleet types. Search focused on regulatory interface management, airworthiness review capability and the ability to work across decentralised operations.
Regional Carrier · Turboprop fleet
Head of Base Maintenance
Production leadership for a carrier bringing heavy maintenance in-house. Mandate centred on hangar capacity planning, C-check efficiency and building a sustainable licensed engineer pipeline.
Discuss an aviation mandate
If you are hiring for a critical operations, engineering or maintenance leadership role in aviation, we would be interested to understand the brief.